Frederick j



(Specimens.)

RJ. SEYMOUR.

PROCESS POBTAINING ALUMINIUM.

Patented Jan. 8, 1884.

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Urirritn *Statline Paritair FREDERICK J. SEYMOUR, OF VOLCOTT'VILLE, CONUCTIUUT, ASSIGNOR OF CNE-HALF T WILLIAM HENRY BltONl, 033 NIS-Yr' YORK, N. Y.

PROCESS 0i: BTAINiNC-l ALUNHNEUM' SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 291,631, dated. January 8, 1684.. Application l'ilcd Si-nlelnber l. i983. (Snecinwns.)

o a/ZZ- whom, it may concer-ref:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK J, Sino MOUR, of /Volcottville, in the county' of Litchfield and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Processes of Obtaining Alu mi niu 1n fromifil u minous Orts and Earths, ol' which the following is a specication. i

The natural condition in which aluminium Io is found most abundantisinthe kaolin clays. Aluminium is also found in refractory ores` carrying other metals, as nickel, cobalt, `copper, zinc, and iron. Operations by heat in open furnaces or vessels will fail to cast down I5 into a metallic state zine and alui'ninium, as, owing to their volatile nature, they are resolved into vapor and driven ofi", but either may be obtained by mixing` the ore or earth whicheontains it with earbonaceous `material 2o and subjecting the mixture to heat in a close retort.

I have ascertained that the casting` down of the aluminium in the metallic condition in the retort is `very greatly expedited by the presence of Zinc, the aluminium andlthc zine haying a great allinity for each other, andthe latter serving as a 'flux tothe former; and my invention consists in mixing@ uniinous or 1s or earths with ores of '/.inciand Vith carbonaceous matter, and in subjecting the mixture to heat in a close retort. In this wayI obtain in the retort an alloy of zinc and aluminium which may be useful for some purposes, as for mixing with other metals or alloys, or which nia-y 3 5 be afterward treated to separate the aluminium from the zine when it is desired toobtain the aluminium in a pure or nearly pure state.

The aluminous ores and earths which may be treated by this process are various; but

.iro that with which I have most successfully opcrated is the kaolin, which is found in great abundance. in South Carolina, and the ores of zinc which I have used in. my process are the calamine ores found in Missouri and New .ler-

Sey- In theaecompanying drawings, Figure l is a vertical section ol' a retort-i`urnace to be used in carrying out myimprovement. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of one oi' the Iretorts upon 5o a larger scale, and Fig. 3 it; ayertical section o 'a machine 'or separating: the aluminium from the zine with which it is obtained.

Similar letters ol" rel'ereime d esigguate corre spending; parts in all the iigg'urt A is the l'urnaee-elminber. I-'is'the grate. 55 C l) are the i'nrnacc and andi-pit doors, and E is the chimney. Vln this turna are arranged any desired number el' reiiorls, l?, which are` shown as closed at one ond and provided at the outer end with removable Stoppers or heads L". 'Iheee referia may be made ol' iron, clay, r other suii'uliilc material, und are here shown :is support-cd in the iront wall ot' the rctort-furnace and on bearers or striugpieecs A', extending' :wref-ifi the furnace. lhcsc retorts are removable 'l'rom the vl'zirnace-chamber for the purpose el" idling them.

Referring now io the apparatus shown in Fie: El, and which in similar to that forming;` the subject el' my ,Patent lio. 199,475, dated January 22, ISIS, except. that the vessel (l, Ver containing the' molten metals, is closed, this VVessel muy be innde et' iron or other suitable material, und if; mounted on a. vertical Shaft,

and rotated t'nroughybevel-wheels (L by a driving-shaft, l', which nm); be driven by a belt or otherwise. As the vessel is rotated it is subjected to :L 'iiggriiig or up-and-down motion by a cum, I), on the shalt acting on a stationary cam, b', at the sicip-bearing,` oi' the shalt. The vessel G is ari'ztuged in a beatingehamber, J, which muy be heated by a 'l'urnace, (not here showin) but which mayV be arranged as Shown in my `former patent. i

At the iop oli' the chamber G is a Chim` ney, J".

In the top of the vessel il is an inlet-apen ture, closed by a cover, c, which may be luted or otherwise made air-tight, and inthe side of the vessel are tapping' holes d fl d di d at difl'erent levels.

i is a deliveryepout, whereby the molten metal is carried outside the chamber, and J. is an opening, through which access may be had to the tapping-holes d d d, 4It is closed by a door, J".

A s here r-iliowinthe cover c and mouth oi' the vessel G are accessible through a door, e, inthe ehii'nney J; but they mie-ht be accessible through a hole in the top ol' the chamber J.

2, aaneen bon. rlhat which I have successfully used cony sists of equal parts bituminous coal and willowcharcoa-l. The flux which I have used is common salt. The proportions of the several matters with which I have obtained the best re- .Y parts; common salt, three (3) parts. -materials having .been thoroughly mixed, I

suits are as follows, by weight: kaolin, sixty (60) parts; zinc-ore, sixty (60) parts; carbonaceous matter, one hundred and twenty (120) rIhese paci; the mixture into the retorts F, which have been coated. or luted internally, and after closing and sealing the Stoppers or heads F, I subject the retorts and their contents to the proper degree of heat in the furnace A. The combined action of the heat, the carbon, and the fluxes will east down nearly all the zinc and aluminium een -ained in the ores, and when the metals will fio v freely they are drawn oil'. Ihe alloy of aluminium and zinc thus obtained may be allowed to cool for further-'treatment or use; but if the metals are to besep'arated it is at once'introduced into the vessel G, which is also properly coated on its inner surface. The vessel or retort G- is then closed, and its cover is sealed or luted. rIlhis vessel or refortis so arranged that it may be subjected to a variable and determinable heat under perfect control, and when the contained metal is at the desired heat a rotary motion is given to the vessel or retort and its contents. As the vessel is rot-ated it also receives a jiggin g action by means of the cams I) b.

As the meltingpoint of zinc is about seven hundred and forty degrees (740) and that oi' aluminium is about eight hundred and forty, (84:00,) andas zinc begins to crystallize at about five hundred and sixty degrees, (5600,) it i'ol- 4 lows tliatmthe great ditlerenccin the character' ofthe two niet( lsQs-to their point of crystalliegt-i on and the le'at diii'erencelin their speci lic graviti es will enzibie an almost perfect separation of the aluminium and zinc to be made. After the agitation of the molten metal has been continued ,i'ora time, it will be found that by tapping the 'lower holes', d or d', zinc will be obtained, while by tapping the upper holes, cl3 d4, aluminium will be obtained. The process ol' separation may be continuous, so that if the zine after the treatment still carries some proportion of aluminium, additional mixed metals are added and the process continued. An alloy of zinc and aluminium in uncertain proportions may be drawn from the retort Gr during the first stages ofthe process, and this alloy will have commercial value, as it will be useful to alloy with copper, zinc, and nickel.

It will be understood that by my invention I can obtain aluminium either in a'substantially pure state or as an alloy with other metals.

I am aware that it is not new'to use metallic zinc for the purpose of extracting aluminium from a heated spongy mass of aluminium and carbon which has been obtained previously by heating alumina with a liquid hydrocarbon, as that is described in English Patent No. 2,137, A. I). 1868; but my process differs -from that, in that I extract the aluminium from aluminous earth or ore by the use of an ore of zinc at one operation, while that involves two operations to accomplish by the use oi' metallic zinc what I doin one by the use of the r/Jinc ore.

I am also aware that it was proposed in the said English patent to obtain alloys of aluminium by mixing the respective metallic oxides with gas-tar and heating` the mixture in a retort; but there'is no mention in said patent as to what are thek metals with which the alu minium is to be thus alloyed, and it does not therein appear that the oxide which was to be used besides the oxide ofalumininm could serve or was intended to serve the purpose of casting down the aluminium in the retort in a metallic state, which is what I ell'ect by using the ore of zinc in the retort with the alui'ninous earth or ore.

W'hat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The improvement in the art of extracting aluminium from al uminous earths and ores, consisting in mixing aluminous ore or earth and an ore ol' '/.ine with carbonaceousmaterial and a ilux, and subjecting the mixture to heatin a close retort, whereby the zinc liberated is caused to produce or assist in the casting down of the aluminium in a metallic state, andan alloy of zinc and aluminium is obtained, substantially as herein described. s

ITLEDERICK J. SEYMOUR.

WVitnesses:

Einw. L. Fnisinn, J r. NV. ll. NVirrIInn'nLL.

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